"Care good - communication poor"

My mother in law has been in your hospital for 6 weeks. She had an emergency admittance after a fractured hip and her recovery was complicated by kidney problems and a minor stroke. Overall, the quality of care has been good. We have felt it difficult to obtain information on medical progress and future plans. It was possible to speak to a doctor or nurse but it always seemed to be an added task, rather than something that you cater for as part of the care. However, we were very surprised when you moved your patient to Newark hospital with no advice to our family at all. We only found out when we arrived for normal visiting. When we arrived at Newark we had to brief the doctor on the health history as no notes were passed on and Newark were unaware of everything bar her prescription medicines. Surely there must be a better process than this.

Responses

You are absolutely right - there is a better process than what you have described - and your experience is not the standard we would expect at all. I am not sure what actually happened here but a) transfer to Newark should have been discussed with you and b) a full handover should have happened between us and Newark. Communication as you say was poor here and we are extremely sorry.

Would you possibly be able to contact me directly at: jennie.negus@ulh.nhs.uk and let me know which ward your mother in law was on so I can pick this up with the team? In the meantime thank you for leaving your feedback; it is really valuable to us. Please also give my apologies to your mother in law as she too must have been anxious; I hope she is doing well now.

You are absolutely right - there is a better process than what you have described - and your experience is not the standard we would expect at all. I am not sure what actually happened here but a) transfer to Newark should have been discussed with you and b) a full handover should have happened between us and Newark. Communication as you say was poor here and we are extremely sorry. Would you possibly be able to contact me directly at: jennie.negus@ulh.nhs.uk and let me know which ward your mother in law was on so I can pick this up with the team? In the meantime thank you for leaving your feedback; it is really valuable to us. Please also give my apologies to your mother in law as she too must have been anxious; I hope she is doing well now